Plus Letters to Good Times…
He Made His Bed …
EIR or LIE?
Some foods are too tempting to pass up. That seems to be the case this week with GT’s dining scribes. In our biggest Food & Wine issue to date, our resident foodies experimented with some old favorites and also embarked on new culinary adventures. Delicious. Plus: “11 Sexy Foods.” (Spring is coming, after all.) Send us a list of your favorite local hotspots at le*****@gt******.com. Tell us what local foods you can’t live without. (That might be a long list.)
Last week’s statewide protests ruffled feathers. Hundreds of UC Santa Cruz students—and faculty actually—partook in a protest dubbed “Day of Action to Defend Public Education.” One of the main issues was the spike in student fees—there has been a 200 percent increase since 2002; another 15 percent hike is slated for fall quarter 2010. The scene last week was intense. At one point, one teacher screamed into a loud speaker: “For years the administration has been shoving down our throats the idea that students are clients. No, students are students!” Read more about the matter in News this week.
On another note, GT Guest Columnist Tom Honig looks deeper into “protesting” and ponders its effectiveness.
Surfing is still the rage here, but it’s “surf rage” that has some people talking. (See Online Comments.) Somewhere in the middle is a surfing event that actually helps people. Learn more about an outing that helps veterans and amputees surf.
In the meantime, Spring is fast approaching. Thaw.
Greg Archer | Editor
Letters to Good Times Editor
He Made His Bed …
When I saw the article on tantra called “Sexual Healing” (GT 2/25) I was initially thrilled. I’ve been encouraging my husband of 18 years to go to a tantra workshop with me for a while now with hopes of learning a new tool to deepen our relationship. Unfortunately the article was not only a total let down but it angered me as well. The seemingly adolescent author diced this ancient art form of spiritual sensuality into simply boy gets hot over exotic goddess women. How disappointing yet utterly predictable. Not only that but I listened to him rant on and on idolizing a senior “stallion” who evidently wrote the book that resides in my home with a previous wife. Now he gives tantra workshops flaunting his half age trophy wife to the tantric under 30 crowd.
Did I miss something? Was tantra originally designed for men to boost their fragile inflated egos and perform sexual gymnastics with
young beautiful women? Are we in Hollywood, Santa Cruz? Please
enlighten me if I have been so misguided. Guess I’ll toss that book.
Not to totally bash the author, I was impressed that he experienced
anal penetration. This would be a helpful coming-of-age rite for
heterosexual men around the world. It just might open them to some admiral aspects of femininity: vulnerability, receptivity and sensitivity. Oh, and lest we not forget, maybe they would start fewer wars.
Shoshana Spielman
Santa Cruz
EIR or LIE?
Regarding the recent articles on the Environmental Impact Report (EIR), “We won’t spray you from the air—yet …”
“But it’s OK to spray you from the ground now.”
This is paraphrased from the EIR, released by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). The EIR also tells us spraying will harm no person and no creature—except the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM).
That is a lie. Actually, the 1,400 page EIR is a LIE. It tells us that eradication (by chemical treatments everywhere an LBAM has been found) is needed.
However, the EIR never tells us why the LBAM is a problem–because stories CDFA has told are a lie.
Recently, based on CDFA lies, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors chair said, “If this moth were to become established in California, the negative impact on production costs could top $100 million.”
The EIR itself can cite damage only to one bush and 20 percent of a berry crop by the LBAM along with other native moth species. Where’s the $100 million damage? It’s damage to taxpayers in wasted funds.
Do all you can to prevent certification of the EIR. Email Sen. Dean Florez at se************@se****.gov and Assemblyman William Monning at as*******************@as******.gov.
Dick André
Aptos
